What Happened To Blue Crab?

Here in Vermont, it's not easy to get a hold of blue crab and I used to happily buy some at Costco. They offer one pound cans of Phillips Jumbo Lump Crab Meat but sometime ago I noticed that it's not from North America. Lately, they're always a product of the Philippines, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and it's not the blue crab we're used to.

After a little research I found what's actually being sold is Portunus pelagicus which is also known as the flower crab, blue swimmer crab or sand crab. They're larger and sweeter according to wikipedia. In any case, there is defiantly a taste difference and I can't say I care for it as much as our North American blue crabs.

So what happened to our blue crabs? Is it over fishing? Too much demand? Environmental changes? Louisiana's harvest affected by Hurricane Katrina? Cost savings?

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